CONWAY, Ark. (June 24, 2009) -- Recently returned from a mission trip to Honduras, senior Kerry Evans of Little Rock has a new appreciation for the things she took for granted just weeks ago. She and the 19 other local college students who went are counting their blessings: education, clean water, good plumbing, and air conditioning. They’ve also found new value in another underappreciated resource—each other.

The trip was sponsored by the Conway chapter of Catholic Campus Ministries (CCM), an association with chapters in colleges and universities throughout the U.S.  The Conway CCM is unique, though, because it unites two campuses. Students from both Hendrix College and the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) attend the organization’s meetings and events, which include Bible study, local service work, and yearly international mission trips.

Historically, the mission trips took place during UCA’s Spring Break week, when Hendrix students were in class. This year CCM president Kerry Evans, a Hendrix student, scheduled the trip to take place during summer break, so students from both schools could attend.

For a week, the seven Hendrix students and 13 UCA students worked together to fence in a livestock area at the Mission Honduras compound in the rural area of El Conejo. They spent the mornings digging holes and burying heavy concrete posts in them, without the help of modern machinery. In the afternoons, they played with the children who live at the mission.

The volunteers easily bridged the language barrier with the children, who were happy to play games and read books with them. The tougher cultural divide was the one that separated the students from each other: UCA from Hendrix, large from small, public from private.

“There is definitely a rift between the two campuses, and so it’s hard to get Hendrix students to come to campus ministry,” Evans said. The CCM meetings are held near the UCA campus, across town from Hendrix.

“A lot of my friends at UCA had preconceived notions about Hendrix students, but once they spent some time together, they were like, ‘Oh! They’re really cool!’” she said.

Evans watched as the two groups of students merged into one group of close friends, which she said surprised many of the students.

“Not only did we discover our common humanity with the Hondurans we were working with,” Evans said, “but also among ourselves.”

The Hendrix students involved included:

• Senior Kerry Evans, a biology major from Little Rock
• Sophomore Charis Lorenz, from Rancho St. Margarita, Calif.
• Senior Matt Lindsey, a politics major from Bearden
• Sophomore Samantha Peznachek Deragowski, a biology major from Springfield, Mo.
• Sophomore Ashley Scorsone, an allied health major from Gretna, La.
• Senior Ashley Wells, a religion major from Dallas, Texas

Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is among 165 colleges featured in the 2009 edition of the Princeton Review America’s Best Value Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.

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